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Anger chafed like the broken shells under his feet. “I know there’s not a chance you would have contacted me otherwise.”
“Because I don’t need anything.” She softened her steely declaration with a gentle smile and hand on his forearm.
A hand that shook.
“You’re a good liar. You say it with a straight face, no wince, looking me right in the eye. But the thing is, I know you learned that from me after the trouble I pulled us through as kids.”
“Then how do you know I’m not telling the truth?”
“I’m a better liar now than I was before.” Military training and covert ops had taught him well. He raised his hand, pressed two fingers to the side of her neck, her pulse throbbing against his skin. “I can feel your lie right here.”
Her heart rate kicked up a notch under his touch, a wariness tinting her eyes that almost stirred guilt. Almost. He wouldn’t be deterred from prying answers out of her this time.
Eleven years ago that cornered look in her eyes might have swayed him. But not now. He’d seen the worst the world had to offer. Fought it. Conquered it more than once, and no way would he let this woman bring him down with a simple wince. He was doing this for her.
Then the flash in her eyes shifted, she shifted, changing into a different woman, a steely, determined woman who may have visited some of those nightmares he’d experienced. He saw a different Mary Elise, but one who still sent jolts of awareness rocking through him until his gut clenched with need, his pulse now echoing hers. Hard and fast.
Definitely hard.
Mary Elise gripped his wrist and pulled his hand down, trailing his fingers over her collarbone until his palm flattened over her heart. “There are plenty of reasons a woman’s heart rate speeds up, Danny.”
CHAPTERNINE
Desperation chewed through her.Mary Elise wrapped her hand tighter around the warm strength of Danny’s wrist,
It had to be desperation and fear of her past being uncovered, of others taking on the risk and danger of her foolish mistakes. She wouldn’t allow the emotions burning through her to be anything else.
Still, why hadn’t she opted for a different distraction from Danny’s persistence? Like a leg cramp? She’d walked off the real cramps and backache, but why hadn’t she faked they were back again? Even a mad dash in the opposite direction would have made more sense than this.
Touching. Wanting. Needing. And there weren’t nearly enough people on this patch of beach to offer chaperoning, a lone dog walker already disappearing around a dune.
At least she had the satisfaction of knowing she’d shocked Daniel as much as herself because the man stared down at her with dark eyes, stunned silent—but not moving away. Desire curled smoky paths through her veins.
She wanted to believe the pulsing heat came from abstinence. Except she knew better. Never had she wanted a man’s touch as much as she wanted Danny’s. Now. Right now, with a surety that if it didn’t happen soon, she would spontaneously combust.
Danny’s brows lowered and his hand twitched back, away, callused fingers snagging on silk. Involuntary muscles held his hand firm with a strength she hadn’t known she possessed.
And suddenly, more than ever, she wanted something to take with her when she left in four days. A memory. A kiss. The question answered about whether her imagination had exaggerated the impact of his mouth against hers.
She couldn’t stay, so what did it matter now if she blew any chance of friendship? Her peace of mind was already shot. Yes, even fleetingly, she definitely deserved something. This.
Him.
“You should know what you do to my heart rate, Danny. And I think maybe I do the same to yours.” Mary Elise arched up, into him, against him, not a far stretch as he topped her by no more than four inches.
Surprise nipped. This new man seemed so much larger than the young lover from her memories. But in her arms, he was her Danny. She took comfort in that as she leaned in to take his mouth.
And then he wasn’t her Danny at all.
A hungry growl of possession rumbled low in his throat. His mouth took hers right back in the kiss of a man. Not a hungry youth who, yes, had style and exuberance. But a man of intensity, strength.
Experience.
All man. And he made her feel all woman. A sensation she hadn’t experienced in so long she’d forgotten the heady rush of being wanted. Desired. Even while sex with Kent had been physically satisfying at the beginning, all too soon any mating had become just that. Mating. She’d been nothing more than a vessel to bear his child, and somewhere along the way had lost the wonder of being a woman.
Danny reminded and reassured her with the bold possession of his mouth, his hands traveling down her back to urge her closer. His speeding heartbeat against her chest drummed with how much he wanted her. A precious gift she hadn’t realized she needed, and now she couldn’t face losing it.
Losing him?
